Is there something special, new yorkers do in December? (No, not the Christmas Tree enlightment, this was.. too much 2 years ago^^)
I already know the beautiful christmas markets, but is there something real special you can do when visiting beginning of DEC, what "tourists" not do?

Is there something special, new yorkers do in December? (No, not the Christmas Tree enlightment, this was.. too much 2 years ago^^)
I already know the beautiful christmas markets, but is there something real special you can do when visiting beginning of DEC, what "tourists" not do?

Click to expand...

Funny enough, in a little more than 4 weeks I'll be in Germany back home (not too far away from Aachen btw. ) so I'm actually looking forward to the German Christmas markets over there.

Anyhow, not sure with who you are visiting and what you have already seen but in a Rangers related sense I'd say take you SO to Rockefeller Ice skating (it's as touristy as you can get really, but it's still fun).
Also, Bryant Park Winter Village is something I enjoy. But then again it's pretty touristy. It's very hard to actually do something in a city that thrives off of tourism. Almost everything you can think of, 10 other tourists are likely to have the same idea as you in this very moment.

I'd say just do whatever you enjoy without worrying too much about whether it's 'touristy' or not. Just have fun, there's plenty of things to do in NYC.

Funny enough, in a little more than 4 weeks I'll be in Germany back home (not too far away from Aachen btw. ) so I'm actually looking forward to the German Christmas markets over there.

Anyhow, not sure with who you are visiting and what you have already seen but in a Rangers related sense I'd say take you SO to Rockefeller Ice skating (it's as touristy as you can get really, but it's still fun).
Also, Bryant Park Winter Village is something I enjoy. But then again it's pretty touristy. It's very hard to actually do something in a city that thrives off of tourism. Almost everything you can think of, 10 other tourists are likely to have the same idea as you in this very moment.

I'd say just do whatever you enjoy without worrying too much about whether it's 'touristy' or not. Just have fun, there's plenty of things to do in NYC.

Click to expand...

Thanks So I'll do whatever sounds like fun. Tickets for NYR - NJD on Saturday in December are already ready.. this will be great hopefully.

The Christmas market in Aachen is great btw :-D (You should go to Lindt there to buy Chocolate at the factory outlet)

Is there something special, new yorkers do in December? (No, not the Christmas Tree enlightment, this was.. too much 2 years ago^^)
I already know the beautiful christmas markets, but is there something real special you can do when visiting beginning of DEC, what "tourists" not do?

What I first tell tourists who ask me how to experience NYC like a local:

Close your eyes and think of New York City. What you see is what we avoid like the plague. The Statute of Liberty? No. Times Square. No. Central Park. No. Rockefeller Plaza, the Met and Moma, Bryant Park? No, No, No, No. At the very least not on weekends and holidays.

What I then suggest:

1. Take the subway to Union Square and walk in any direction. My favorite direction is southeast, towards St. Marks. Don't forget to grab a slice at Joe's.

2. Hungry late at night? Take the subway to Penn Station and walk east towards Koreatown. Eat bbq, drink soju, and maybe after dip your toes into some k-pop karaoke.

3. Watch a local team at a local pub or sports bar. Avoid chains.

4. Outerboroughs can be fun too: Walk around Astoria (Greece) and Elmhurst (Southeast Asia) in Queens. Belmont (the real Little Italy) in the Bronx. Glamorous? No. Authentic. Very much. While your friends are waiting on line to take a selfie with the balls of the Charging Bull, you'll experiencing the real New York.

5. Most importantly: Don't try to do too much. You'll end up enjoying none of it.

4. Outerboroughs can be fun too: Walk around Astoria (Greece) and Elmhurst (Southeast Asia) in Queens. Belmont (the real Little Italy) in the Bronx. Glamorous? No. Authentic. Very much. While your friends are waiting on line to take a selfie with the balls of the Charging Bull, you'll experiencing the real New York.

Click to expand...

If you want to experience china town don't go to china town. Take the 7 train to the end at Main street and get some real dim sum.

I am moving from Northern VA to NY.
My job is by pier 11 in Manhattan.
I’m looking for some help and recommendations in finding a place.
Given my salary is just under 70 I’d like a place under 2k convenient to 2/3/4/5/6/J/M/R/Z or the NJ ferry.

I work near pier 11. There are relatively inexpensive garages in Jersey City and you might even find a small place there for around $2k, though to be honest I don't know much about the housing market. There is a ferry from Jersey City to Pier 11 that runs $7 each trip but it doesn't run nights or weekends. It's much more convenient than the path but the path is much cheaper (edit: Path runs to the world financial center).

If your salary is just under 70, and you plan to live by yourself, I would forget Manhattan. Even $2K a month for rent sounds high for that salary. Most garages in Manhattan are at least $400/month to park your car. If you go on spot hero, you can find many garages, then you will have to look up the individual garages to see about fees.

I am moving from Northern VA to NY.
My job is by pier 11 in Manhattan.
I’m looking for some help and recommendations in finding a place.
Given my salary is just under 70 I’d like a place under 2k convenient to 2/3/4/5/6/J/M/R/Z or the NJ ferry.

Any tips or realtors to refer?

Click to expand...

Look into the brand new NYC Ferry system. South Brooklyn Ferry gets you from Red Hook to Pier 11 in 20 minutes (or closer to 40 minutes if you're down by Bay Ridge). The NYC Ferry costs the same as the MTA ($2.75 per ride). Link if you want to check it out: South Brooklyn Ferry Route & Schedule | NYC Ferry Service

Also living along the J/M/Z in Bushwick could work for your price range, if you don't mind living in an area that's still developing (but also has its share of hip Brooklyn-y things)

For parking, I don't know how much it costs as I don't drive myself, but I'd consider a valet service like DropCar. A bunch of my friends use it and love it. They park your car in one of their lots for you, and they bring it to you when you need it. Very useful for the person who only uses their car on occasion.

I'm trying to find a place for myself, and don't want to spend more time researching or money paying a broker than I need to.
Thus far I have been:
-Using Streeteasy, apartments.com, and craigslist
-Also been in touch with a few realtors

From what I have been told, realtors have access to everything, and that streeteasy is not trustworthy since they began charging agents to post adds.
Moreover most of the stuff is out of date, and even if it says no fee, the fee is built in.

Obviously it'd be easier for me to just leave everything to the broker instead of searching a bunch of websites and contacting dozens of postings, but I wanted to make sure this was the case.
I don't want to be lazy and pay more, or inefficient and spend too much time and stress needless.

I would contemplate a place to live (in addition to storage for your car) in Jersey. I'm not a real estate or public transport expert and don't profess to being one, though. But it seems to make sense for your situation.

You and I switched places. I used to be in Brooklyn but moved to DC/NoVa two years ago.

What I first tell tourists who ask me how to experience NYC like a local:

Close your eyes and think of New York City. What you see is what we avoid like the plague. The Statute of Liberty? No. Times Square. No. Central Park. No. Rockefeller Plaza, the Met and Moma, Bryant Park? No, No, No, No. At the very least not on weekends and holidays.

What I then suggest:

1. Take the subway to Union Square and walk in any direction. My favorite direction is southeast, towards St. Marks. Don't forget to grab a slice at Joe's.

2. Hungry late at night? Take the subway to Penn Station and walk east towards Koreatown. Eat bbq, drink soju, and maybe after dip your toes into some k-pop karaoke.

3. Watch a local team at a local pub or sports bar. Avoid chains.

4. Outerboroughs can be fun too: Walk around Astoria (Greece) and Elmhurst (Southeast Asia) in Queens. Belmont (the real Little Italy) in the Bronx. Glamorous? No. Authentic. Very much. While your friends are waiting on line to take a selfie with the balls of the Charging Bull, you'll experiencing the real New York.

5. Most importantly: Don't try to do too much. You'll end up enjoying none of it.

Click to expand...

I'll chip in some Brooklyn suggestions. Avoid Williamsburg or at most, skim through it. It used to be genuinely nice, hip, and cool but I just feel like everyone talks about Williamsburg when Brooklyn comes up. Brooklyn has its own share of Chinatowns, including along 7th Avenue and around 60th St. Go for a walk along the promenade in Brooklyn Heights, which itself is a pleasant area. Great view of Lower Manhattan up to the Brooklyn Bridge from there. From there, find the Court St. corridor; you will get the same Manhattan experience with shops and eateries. Prospect Park is a good alternative to Central Park and is right in Park Slope, which was sort of the predecessor to Williamsburg. If you want the Russian experience, venture to south Brooklyn, to Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay. You can get authentic Italian in Bay Ridge, which is at the southwestern tip of the borough.